Review: The Ocean ‘Solaris’

The twelfth album from Berlin post-metal juggernauts The Ocean leaves long-time listeners a lot to unpack. The elephant in the room is the departure of guitarist Ramis Åhfeldt, drummer Paul Seidel, and vocalist Loïc Rossetti. All three were key components of a fan-favourite era that spanned a decade, producing three incredible albums in Phanerozoic I (2018), Phanerozoic II (2020), and Holocene (2023) – the critically acclaimed, palaeontology-themed conceptual trilogy that spanned the history of the Earth.

However, founder Robin Staps has always maintained a flexible, collective approach to the band’s membership. Joining bassist Mattias Hägerstrand and recent recruit Jordi Farré on drums is a refreshed line-up for the next era, with Emmanuel Jessua (Hypno5e) and Marco Gennaro on guitars, alongside dual vocalists Enrico Tiberi and Lane Shi (Elizabeth Colour Wheel, Otay:Onii).

The album itself was conceived to follow the Phanerozoic duo before former synth player Peter Voigtmann brought the ideas that would form the more electronically minded Holocene. Having exhausted the history of the Earth, the next natural trajectory for exploration is the stars, and Solaris (Latin for ‘of the sun’) captures that concept from the title alone.

Kicking off with 52°30’11″N, 13°26’12″E (coordinates of the band’s rehearsal space in Berlin, Germany), it opens with pinging chimes that ripple like drops of water. Over this atmospheric beginning, electronic drones and synths creep in. Vocals from new singer Tiberi emerge soft and low, backed by Lane Shi’s quiet whispers. This deliberately helps ease the listener into the new direction as the gentle voices intertwine and wash soothingly over you.

The fleeting intro continues into the first track, Departure Song. Tiberi is at the forefront in the chorus of voices; his delivery, whilst his own, is not a million miles away from his predecessor’s, with phrasing and tone that occasionally echo Rossetti’s otherworldly delivery, in a possibly deliberate move to soften the blow of his, ahem, departure. However, as the song progresses and the music swells with dramatic transitions mimicking a journey into the cosmos, Shi gains more prominence and power. The two complement each other and add a new dynamic as her mesmerising voice soars. As an opening statement, it is a striking and impressive one.

The first single, Light Pollution, pushes the runtime up to nearly ten minutes. In comparison to the previous albums, which all clocked in around the forty-five-minute mark, Solaris sails past an hour and features multiple songs that go well into double figures on an opus crammed full of ideas.

The grooving and restrained beginnings incorporate trademark sounds: plinking electronics like flashing spaceship consoles, stamping drums, open chords, and a sense of coiling tension that builds the story. Melodies and harmonies appear and wash over you alongside understated vocals. As the guitar burns with lead notes and the track shifts, Shi’s incredible, acrobatic voice overlaps with Tiberi, giving the band a unique edge and making his savage roars all the more impactful.

the vocals are stunning, and the music somehow looks to push beyond anything they have done before…

Simulacra, the longest track by some distance, opens with Shi taking the lead. Over angular guitars and strange percussion, she floats deliriously, cementing her place in this new sound. When the more muscular riffing takes hold, and Tiberi joins the fray, there is an ominous sense of warning amongst the layers of sound and underlying female screams that wrestle for attention. In terms of sound, The Ocean have never shied away from writing dense, complicated music, but that’s not to say they aren’t capable of delivering moments of catchy chugging or heartfelt harmonies.

The savage barks that open the aptly named Belligerence signal the start of a new phase as Tiberi shreds his vocals. Unlike the previous slow builds, it crashes in like a churning storm, battering the listener into submission and recalling older material before settling into the more expansive, progressive exploration they excel at – albeit with a granite-like edge and blackened screams.

Última Esperanza (a province in Chilean Patagonia whose name means ‘last hope’) is littered with electronics and off-kilter sounding riffs, and is another track that takes time to evolve. Bristling with a harder edge, it highlights the chemistry between the two singers – the clean, up-tempo tones of Shi juxtaposed with gruff barks and growls. The music comes in waves as the band gel seamlessly, anchoring the sound so that the electronic textures and dual vocals can really take centre stage. On first listen, the sheer amount going on is staggering, taking several plays to start peeling back the layers on display.

The sci-fi-laced dance track Milk Of My Dreams feels like this epic space-bound journey has splashed back down on Earth. The electronic pulses and driving beats should feel out of place in the maelstrom that has gone before, but with razor-like guitars that cut through and an industrial-style atmosphere, it adds a new wrinkle to the band. Despite being one of the shorter tracks, it is easy to get lost in the disco-style beats.

Closer 51°28′30″S, 73°6′11″W takes its title from the coordinates of the Última Esperanza Province, with Staps quoted as saying: ‘That journey takes us to Solaris, and it ends back on Earth. Maybe it crash-lands back on Earth.’ Returning to this planet is deliberately thematic, lending weight to the album’s concept and extending the directional change of the previous number to the point where it is hard to notice the moment it happens – except the words change from ‘floating in the milk of my dreams’ to ‘drowning’… The last few lingering notes sign out with a thought-provoking drop, leaving the listener to contemplate this circular and most dramatic of experiences.

I was quite trepidatious about this new release given the line-up changes, but the vocals are stunning, and the music somehow looks to push beyond anything they have done before. Solaris is absolutely jaw-dropping.

Label: Pelagic Records
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Scribed by: Mark Hunt-Bryden